It was a sad day when Microsoft announced they’d be shutting down the Halo 2 servers.  I know quite a few people who love playing both Halo and Halo 2 better than Halo 3 or ODST.  There is something like dual wielding needlers that brings back sweet, sweet nostalgia.  With the servers shutting down on April 15, original players don’t have much time.

Halo Reach beta servers launch May 7 and Microsoft is trying to get as many fans to make the transition as possible.  But it looks like Microsoft is trying to ease the blow by handing out free Gold memberships and $5.00 in Microsoft points.  And if that isn’t sweet enough, the few remaining players are getting invites to the Reach beta.

Not sure if this is going to convince any of the old school Halo players to shell out a good chunk of cash to buy Reach, especially if you are such a die hard fan of the originals.

Okay.  The Iron Man trailer looks awesome.  Jon Favreau did tease fans about an “updated” look on an old favorite and sure enough, the final seconds of the trailer feature a sexy, sleek new collapsible armor that looks awfully reminiscent of the Silver Centurion!

I was never a huge fan of the Silver Centurion only because the armor was not the classic yellow and red.  Red and silver?  Meh.  The shoulder pads were a bit much so I am glad they lost those.

Also, how about those Ironettes?  I know what my Comic Con costume is going to be this year.

Beautiful illustrations, high-quality materials and some really clever t-shirts made this site stand out from other sites geared toward nerd fashion.  And what I really liked was that they catered to not just the gamer geek or the techie geek, they had a wide variety of t-shirts for every kind of geek out there.  They also had a large selection of fan favorite merchandise from Cyanide and Happiness and Ctrl+Alt+Delete.  I liked how their selection went beyond shirts that said “WTF?!” and really tapped into something more clever.

For many hardcore Batman fans, THE definitive Batman and Joker remain Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy.  A lot of them can’t read a Batman comic without hearing them read the lines in their heads.  With the news that Kevin and Mark would be reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker respectively, a lot of us who remember watching or growing up with Batman: The Animated Series were beyond excited.  And all of the teasing trailers, delays and buildup just gave us blue balls.

Kevin Conroy has mastered the Batman/Bruce Wayne voice.  See, in order to distinguish the Bruce Voice from the Batman Voice, there is a really fine line in what works and what comes off as lame.  Christian Bale got a lot of crap for his rough, hoarse Batman voice in Batman Begins and in The Dark Knight.  It really does sound out of place, modified and more than a little hard to understand.  Now, I know what Bale was doing.  You have to have contrast between the Bruce Voice and the Batman Voice.  But Kevin Conroy has got it down.  His Bruce Voice is smooth, a little jaunty and comes across as overly naive and sincere.  His Batman Voice only changes slightly, but what a difference it makes.  Deeper, darker and dripping with steadfast conviction.  Its perfect.  Its not too deep, its not hard to understand.  When he says his famous line, everyone gets chills.

Opposite Batman is the Clown Prince of Crime who must be as dynamic as Batman.  Mark Hamill, perhaps best known as Luke Skywalker, gives a stellar performance each and every episode of Batman: TAS.  His Joker was so ingrained in the Nerd Hall of Fame that he is almost always at the top of the list for “Who should be a live action Joker?” somewhere behind Heath Ledger but ahead of Jack Nicholson (sorry Jacker!).  In the TV series, Birds of Prey, Hamill was so synonymous with his Joker voice that he provided the dubbed voice for live action actor/stuntman Roger Stoneburner.  Hamill’s Joker constantly teeters on the brink of bursting into over the top, terrifying laughter that builds into a crescendo of madness.  And you don’t want him to stop.  And every peel of laughter is different, often starting with a low chuckle and building into a frenzy of gleeful, high-pitched screams.  Check out this Joker laughter montage, although not nearly as effective as in the context of the story, still demonstrates Hamill’s wide range of vocal talent.  Mark Hamill, who is known for obliging asking fans to “do a Joker laugh”, will cover his face when he performs.  However, it was a real treat at Comic Con to see and hear Mark Hamill perform his stellar Joker laugh unmasked at the Watchmen: Director’s Cut and Arkham Asylum panel.  Click here to watch.

Hearing the voice actors’ performance in a TV show is one thing, but hearing them as you play through Batman: Arkham Asylum is another.  Hearing the dialogue play out along with the story as you work through it is a lot of fun.  It truly adds to the rich, immersive experience that was tailor made for hardcore Batfans who have been waiting for this for a looong time.  Having such high quality performances alongside other fan favorites such as Arleen Sorkin who reprises her role as universally adored Harley Quinn only makes this game 100x better.  Even gamers who are not familiar with the voice talent will surely be impressed by the dead-on voice acting.  Batman: Arkham Asylum is raising the bar for video game voice acting and hopefully it will gain more recogition as an art because of the high-standards set by Arkham Asylum.

Tony Stark is hot.

Now this is an interesting rumor.  Iron Man 2 and possibly Iron Man converted to 3D?  Sounds pretty interesting.  I can’t say I am a huge fan of the 3D as I’ve always been disappointed in it.  But if anything, Iron Man would probably look super hot in 3D.  Can you imagine those in helmet shots in 3D?  That would be so cool.  I’m wondering how good it would look.  Because they did not film it in 3D, what they will have to do is go back and digitally make it 3D.  Its not going to be as good as if they shot it in 3D.  Here’s hoping we get some decent 3D for future projects like Avengers.  A 3D Ultron?  Nerdgasm!